Archers do pretty well from early to mid game ( at least to giants ), but after that their damage output fall in comparison to others most likely because at that time duel wielders should have enough durability and start investing in damage skills, and mages surprisingly deal more damage with their firebolts (with fewer crits) to a single target as well.
Still honestly A3 is too easy even on torment for me. After the trologo everything seems like a walk in the park, i spent far more time to solve puzzles/traps than killing things. The last boss is a big disappointment as you can end it in 1 turn without killing anything, and even if you dont the boss can do next to nothing as well. I dont even use max-min build just standard melee/archer/mage/priest party. I may try to fight the dragons next to see how things turn out. Overall this game is 8/10, i hope i can see the A4-6 remakes as my first spiderweb game was Avernum 4 and i was hooked on everything after that.